Thin natural hair

curlyafgrl

New Member
Okay so i'm trying to stay positive about this natural hair deal. My last perm was september 2009, BC'd in January 2010. While I think I have, I guess you can say, normal growth.....My hair is not any thicker than when I was relaxing my hair. I'm always on the look out for new styles, but when I try them out on my hair (for instance mini braids) it just does NOT look good on my thin natural hair! Are there any other thin natural hair girls that have some styles they can share with me? Thanks!!!
 
Well you can thicken your hair with the use of castor oil. It could be that your strands are fine rather than thin. I'm sure some other fine haired naturals can help you out with styling.
 
I feel your pain curlyafgrl. I shed a tear when I realized that my Angela Davis fantasy would never be....:lol:

Seriously though, your hair probably isn't going to be any thicker than when you were relaxing. Relaxers don't necessarily kill the density of your hair. If anything, they reveal it to a great degree because the strand has been permanently straightened.

I hate to be negative, but I don't believe that castor oil can thicker your hair. I've tried it (JBCO, cold pressed regular...the whole nine), and it does not work. If anything it makes my hair feel really moisturized, but weighed down at the same time. I don't recommend it.

About styles.....I have found that twists are not my friend. Twists look like garden snankes on my head, and I would show you a picture but you will turn into stone.:spinning:


Instead I recommend keeping your leave-ins light so that you don't lose any body, and perhaps straw sets/roller sets. I have found that braid outs don't look too bad. I will admit that I usually default to the puff because it's easy, and it's one of the few styles that looks good on my fine hair.
 
Thanks you guys!!! When I went natural I just figured I would have this big, thick, amazing fro!! I love my hair, just expected something different.....Maxjones, I do the same by going back to the tried and trusted puff.....:grin:
 
I would suggest that you look into henna. I think my hair is on the medium-thick side in terms of density, and I can definitely see a difference in my thickness after just my first tratment (I love big hair so I'm cool with this lol). I've read that with regular use, the thickening effects are consistent and significant.
 
I have thin natural hair and have been taking biotin for the past 2 months. I have definitely noticed how thicker my hair is now. I take a high dose though. 5mg in the morning and 5mg at night.
 
I have thin strands. This week I am in a braid & curl style (second attempt) and I love it! I think this will be a go to style for me for a while.

Braid and Curl - second attempt album | RegsWife | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

braidandcurlendofday1-vi.jpg
 
I have thin natural hair and have been taking biotin for the past 2 months. I have definitely noticed how thicker my hair is now. I take a high dose though. 5mg in the morning and 5mg at night.
If you decide to take biotin please do a search and read some of the threads on this supplement. I have been reluctant to try biotin because of some the adverse effects that have been described such as massive painful cyst acne. Not everyone has these issues, but please be aware. Also, start with a low dosage and work your way up. Drinking lots of water is a also required.
 
I have thin natural hair as well. I used to do henna treatments regularly but now I've just added it and a few other powders to my daily condish and use the mix to cowash. I think it has helped to give my strands the appearance of thicker hair.

For a long time I couldn't rock twists b/c they would come loose. So I rock mini-braids all of the time. The first day they are very flat and lifeless, but after a couple of cowashes, they would get frizzy and it looked much fuller. Because they still lay so flat, I tend to pin them up in the front and let the back hang.

IMG_31981-vi.jpg


When it was shorter:
IMG_2710-vi.jpg


Try the mini braids again and this time, don't braid all of the way to the end. Don't forget to cowash! HTH!
 
Okay so i'm trying to stay positive about this natural hair deal. My last perm was september 2009, BC'd in January 2010. While I think I have, I guess you can say, normal growth.....My hair is not any thicker than when I was relaxing my hair. I'm always on the look out for new styles, but when I try them out on my hair (for instance mini braids) it just does NOT look good on my thin natural hair! Are there any other thin natural hair girls that have some styles they can share with me? Thanks!!!

I have thin hair. You know when you want to do some twists but they are soooooo... skinny? sooo weak ? That's it.
If I pick it out I have a big density, but the strands are so thin but all the think I can do is hiding it :nono:

My best discover of 2010 was Cassia ! Using it weekly, I can not believe my hair is now thick !
Next spring, When I will be able to wair my hair out, My hair will be so juicyyyyyy and THICK !!!
there are some great threads about Cassia.
this one should be pinned !
Cassia Obovata support thread
 
Another fine haired natural here! I wear mainly braidouts and flat twistouts. It gives me the appearance of fullness.

Here's my hair in mini twists I wore for a while. Didn't look as bad as I thought:

th_240ceecb.jpg


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And here's the twistout from that:

th_ff53226b.jpg
 
If you decide to take biotin please do a search and read some of the threads on this supplement. I have been reluctant to try biotin because of some the adverse effects that have been described such as massive painful cyst acne. Not everyone has these issues, but please be aware. Also, start with a low dosage and work your way up. Drinking lots of water is a also required.

And taking the other B vitamins with the biotin.
 
*bump*
I thought i was going nuts but hair is so thin. When the hairdresser braided back my hair i almost dropped to the ground it grew but its so thin. I think im going to try the henna or cassia for my hair.
 
You and I are in the same category. I was really saddended to discover that I would never have those big juicy plump twists that I saw in all the fotki's and natural hair blogs..I LONGED for them, and while I do believe it is possible, with the right products and regimen, to thicken the hair, I haven't found anything that would transform my thin,less dense twists into the big plump juicy ones i want:nono:. But I have found a couple of twists options that have worked for me, while I do not always like to wear the twist, I'd rather do the twist out, as my hair grows my twists don't look so sickly and puny now:lol:.


I've attached a pic of my twists now and the resulting twistout. So there is hope.

Happy Growing....
 

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My hair was pretty thin during my 1st 1.5 years. It's finally thickening up at 22 months.

I have fine, natural strands that seems to be thickening up a bit. I think it's because I added more protein to my regimen (I'd lowered my protein content and ditched monthly hard protein once I went natural). I now use Cantu Shea Butter and MegaTek when I remember. When I used to use MegaTek regularly I noticed more strands. They're still thinnish, but there are more of them. Ad those strands are getting longer, my hair appears thicker. HTH
 
You and I are in the same category. I was really saddended to discover that I would never have those big juicy plump twists that I saw in all the fotki's and natural hair blogs..I LONGED for them, and while I do believe it is possible, with the right products and regimen, to thicken the hair, I haven't found anything that would transform my thin,less dense twists into the big plump juicy ones i want:nono:. But I have found a couple of twists options that have worked for me, while I do not always like to wear the twist, I'd rather do the twist out, as my hair grows my twists don't look so sickly and puny now:lol:.


I've attached a pic of my twists now and the resulting twistout. So there is hope.

Happy Growing....


I love your color. What did you use?
 
my hair is pretty fine/thin. I like the fullness and texture of flat twist outs. My 4c hair doesn't really 2 strand twist out or braid out well. But i've had nice results with bantu knot outs and flat twists:-)
 
My hair is not thick at all! When I blowdry you can really tell. What styles I have found that help my hair are twistouts and bantu knots. They, i've found, help my hair seem as if its filled out. When I do want to wear twists for a low manipulation style, I do it on either wet or air dryed hair, then I pin them up in different ways. For fuller looks air drying is the best bet, at least for me, bc it gives faux fullness in whatever style i put my hair in. Another thing that helps is henna. I use to do it all the time, but bc of laziness have stopped. But when I was doing it i did notice my hair getting thicker for my air drying styles.
 
When you straighten your hair use a semi-permanent colour as it coats the strands and makes them appear thicker. Also you can add 2 or three weave clips to add thickness.
Otherwise I find that when my hair isn't straight I always wear it up.
 
Thanks,

My stylists always picks the color so I am not sure of the brand, all I know is its Mahogoney Red. I only color about twice a year. I'm thinking of attempting to incorporate henna as a replacement but I don't think it will give me the color I really want. Since I haven't had any problems from the coloring I"m not hard pressed to stop.
 
You guys have all been great help! I decided to put kinky twist in to give my hair a rest. But once they are out I will try some of these suggestions to see which works best for my hair. =)
 
I saw someone who did a bantu knot out on their twists and it made them look a lot thicker. I plan to try this whenever I get up the nerve to wear twists.

Also, putting the twists in any type of updo or pin up seems to give the illusion of fullness as well.

I also cosign with a previous poster who said twists look much fuller than braids. This is also the case with my hair.

I also had to come to terms with the fact that many of the natural styles I had been drooling over are not going to be a reality for me, but I was a master of illusion when I was relaxed at making my hair appear fuller and I will do the same as a natural.
 
I don't have thin hair but I have fine strands and my twists can look sparse. But I find if I do them small, they look less so. Also if I dunk them after doing them, they fatten and look fuller.
TwistsBeforeandAfter-vi.jpg


Subsequent washes make them thicken even more:
Twistsoverlap-vi.jpg


Also, if you stagger them so that each row is shifted a bit to one side from the one below it so that each twist in the next row lines up with the parts between the twists in the previous row, and so on (as I tried to explain here), that helps them appear fuller.

ETA Another image that shows how thin twists give the illusion of fullness:
ookinglikelockbraidoutontwists-vi.jpg
 
Thanks you guys!!! When I went natural I just figured I would have this big, thick, amazing fro!! I love my hair, just expected something different.....Maxjones, I do the same by going back to the tried and trusted puff.....:grin:
Did you ever have big thick hair? Think back to when you were a child. If you never hair that type of hair, your chances are slim to none that you would have it now. I don't think there is anything to help thicken up your hair, but healthy hair is the ultimate goal regardless of your strand type and density.

Some of the posters have given you suggestions on how make your hair "appear" thicker but at the end of the day, you hair is your hair.
 
OP, I don't know what image you have in your mind when you think "big, thick amazing afro". Indeed natural hair can look thicker if it isn't straightened so if you're not afraid of shrinkage, you can have a thick afro. My hair shrunken is so thick you have a hard time feeling your way through it to the scalp. If I straighten it, it is less so. So you probably can get a thick afro (depending on you hair type. If you're a 4, then I say a resounding "Yes You Can!") If you're a 3, the hair tends to flop more than stand up, so you could get a thicker floppy fro too. I think you are more likely to achieve an afro that looks thick if you plait your hair when wet and allow it to airdry and let that be how you stretch it. If you blow dry it, you won't get a very good afro.
 
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